Improvement in harness-pad machines



JpF. BEST. Harness Pad Machine.

No. 201,735. Patent ed March. 26; 1878.

UNITED STATES PATENT O IoE.

JAMES F. BEST, OF GALVA, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARNESS-PAD MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 201,735, dated March 26, 1878; application filed November 8, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that I, JAMES F. BEST, of Galva, in the county of Henry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Harness-Pad Machines and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification, and inwhich- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of my improved harness-pad machine; Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view, showing the burr plate or piece in position, to which the leather of the pad is tacked or fastened. Fig. 4 is a View of the machine in an inverted position, and the pad or pads clamped thereon and being stuffed.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like letters.

This invention relates to certain improvements in harness-pad machines, by which the work can be expeditiously and economically done and in a workmanlike manner; and it consists of a block or former, constructed as hereinafter set forth, in combination with certain other devices, substantially as presently described.

In the annexed drawing, A refers to a block or former, preferably of a concavo convex shape. This block is hollowed out from its convex side sufficiently to permit of the leather from which the pad is to be made, previously soaked in water, being sunk therein to a depth equal to the thickness to be imparted to the pad. The bottom of the hollow is concaved, as are also its sides, in order to impart the desired shape to the lower surface and sides of the pad.

B B refer to two plates placed side by side in the bottom of the leather receptacle of the pad, the meeting surfaces being straight, while their outer surfaces are curved to conform to the sides of the hollow, and which press the leather against the bottom edges of the hollow. The ends of these plates are extended upwardly, as at b b, to permit of their being conveniently grasped and removed.

0 O are two bars, hooked at one end, as at c c, which hooks are provided with opposite recesses or slots 0 0 for the entrance of a wedge, 0 to spread the said bars apart, and

thus wedge them inposition against the leather, to secure it while its upper overlapping edges are being tacked or fastened down upon the burr piece or plate D. These bars are bent toward each other at their opposite ends, to form a bearing therefor when spread apart by the wedge 0 and are bowed both in a horizontal and vertical plane, to conform to the concavity of the sides of the hollow and to the convexity of the upper surface of the block or former A, and thus assist in shaping the pad.

E is a bridge or yoke adjusted to the block or former A, to which it is held by a pin, 6, passing beneath the block and through the perforated ends of said bridge. Through the cross-piece of the bridge E passes a screw or key, f, bearing at its lower-end upon a plate,

g, placed upon the plates B B, across their separating or intervening space. This mechanism is for holding the plates B E in position and applying pressure thereto, and which, with the said plates, is removed when the edges of the leather or pad are tacked or fastened down upon the burr-piece D. The tacks, which are made from Swede iron, after being driven through the burr-piece D, are clinched upon the upper side of the plate with which the burrpiece is lined. The wedge c is now withdrawn and the bars 0 O removed, when the leather receptacle of the pad is taken out of the hollow of the block or former, the latter inverted, and the bridge or yoke readjusted thereto, and the said receptacle or receptacles clamped in an inverted position thereon and stuffed through its open end or ends, after which the open end or ends are closed by tacking, when the pad is completed.

By means of this machine harness-pads are expeditiously and economically made, and in a workmanlike manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The block or former A, hollowed out from its convex side, in combination with the plates B B and bars O (l, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the hollow block upper surface concave and its lower surface straight in cross-section, in combination with the bridge E and screw f, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I hereunto afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES F. BEST.

Witnesses:

J ERIEL R. ATWOOD, EUGENE O. SUTPHIN. 

